Newcastle United are set to win the race to sign Dutch defender Sven Botman, 90min understands.
The Magpies have been locked in a battle with Italian giants AC Milan to land the Lille defender and now they are close sealing his signature.
Milan had looked to conclude a double deal with Lille by snapping up Botman and midfielder Renato Sanches, but now it looks like both players are getting away from them.
Paris Saint-Germain have hijacked their deal for Sanches and now Newcastle are going to beat them to the punch for Botman.
Sources have confirmed to 90min that Newcastle have agreed to a deal worth £40m in total, with £5m dependent on bonuses – a deal which Milan were not willing to do.
22-year-old Botman – who is yet to win a senior cap but has been involved in numerous Netherlands senior squads – was keeping his options open, and even back in January he refused to rule out the prospect of moving to Tyneside.
Personal terms were already all but agreed with Botman’s entourage and now Newcastle will hope to finalise the deal over the weekend.
A new central defender was one of Eddie Howe’s priorities heading into the summer, and with this they will concentrate on bolstering their forward options.
